AN Irish bar owner in Valencia has opened up on the “apocalyptic” scenes as floods raged in the Spanish hotspot leaving scores dead.
Sean Dowling from Kilmoyley in Kerry runs the Saints and Scholars Irish pub in Valencia with business partner Seamus McCluskey from Ballycastle in Antrim.
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The pub is situated right across from the Universitat de Valencia in the main city.
The Valencia area has been hit by torrential downpours with the equivalent of nearly a year’s worth of rain falling in just one night.
At least 72 people are dead including some children, with many more missing and local residents trapped in flooded homes without power.
The main city of Valencia escaped the storm but the suburbs and surrounding areas have been hit by total devastation with huge volumes of water flowing through the streets dragging cars with it.
Bar owner Sean Dowling told The Irish Sun despite escaping the worst of the storm there is an “apocalyptic feeling” in Valencia today with the streets all “pretty quiet”.
Metros, public transport, schools and universities are all closed with Sean revealing water has been sold out in the local supermarkets as locals navigate the chaos.
Contact to the worst hit areas in the suburbs, some just a 30-minute drive away, is impossible with phone lines and electricity down.
He told The Irish Sun: “It’s crazy outside the city, it’s wild wild scenes.”
Mr Dowling revealed they were unaware that “completely out of the blue” such destruction was about to hit before receiving a Government alert while working at the pub.
He told The Irish Sun: “We get these automatic emergency responses from the Government on our phones.
“So when we were in the bar last night, I think it was 8pm, everyone’s phones started going off in an emergency response from the Government saying to take care there’s a storm.
“It popped up and everyone’s phone is buzzing. Those type of things add to the apocalyptic feeling.
“It was very rapid. No one really knew what was coming, just everything happened very fast.”
He detailed how they had to postponed and cancel events due to be held in the pub last night amid the “very concerning” situation.
Staff were told not to come in and many had obstructed routes due to closed public transport.
And Mr Dowling also revealed how his business partner Seamus is currently unable to return to his home in Montserrat which is flooded with “two feet” of water.
He said: “He’s badly affected. He lives 30 minutes outside of Valencia city.
“He’s in a house in Montserrat and the roads there are all closed. He hasn’t been able to get to his house. There’s two foot water in his house.”
The Antrim native has no idea when he will be able to return to his home as roads remain flooded and blocked with destroyed cars.
Mr Dowling added: “He’s a stable man at the best of times but this is a hard thing to adjust to but right now nobody knows the depth of the damage.”
IRISH COMMUNITY RESPONSE
Mr Dowling said he believes there are around 800 to 900 Irish living in Valencia with many living in the badly hit suburban areas.
However, the sense of Irish community has come through in the devastating time with support via a local GAA groupchat.
The bar owner said the Valencia GAA community is a “hub” for the Irish in the Spanish spot and messages of support have been flowing through the community.
He said: “There’s some messages of support going in there this morning.
“Anyone who needs any help or donations there’s already support being put in place.”
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